Finally, a use for the scroll lock key!
Pros:
Excellent picture, Low price, Small size, Easy set up, 3 year warranty, Keyboard Powered
Cons:
Cables are not detachable. Monitor cables appear to be of low quality.
The Bottom Line:
For most users, this is the perfect KVM and can be had for under $40.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Don't be misled by it's small size. This great little KVM encased in a rugged plastic housing, it has a 3 year warranty, and the video output is better than I expected.
Ok, so it's a KVM. You want it to perform one basic function. That function is, to switch between two or more computers using the same keyboard, mouse, and monitor. This particular KVM switches between two computers, and it does it's job well. Besides this basic function, there are a few other features that are useless to 99 percent of users.
So you want to switch to another computer? Just tap the scroll lock key twice, and voila! very simple.. No software required!
The main difference between KVM's is number of computers supported (2 in this case), and video quality. Let me tell you, video quality is excellent for a KVM of this price, which really surprised me because the actual monitor cable that this comes with isn't of a very high quality.
Here's the applicable graphics setup on my 2 computers:
Monitor: 21" Sony GDM-F500R
Computer 1: Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4400
Computer 2: Matrox Millenium G400.
Monitor Cable: Radio Shack Catalog # 26-276 high quality monitor cable.
The resolution I use most is 1280x960 @ 85Hz.
Both computers hooked up directly to monitor with the monitor cable, the image is great on both computers at 1280x960 resolution.
With the KVM hooked up between the two computers, there is only a slightly noticeable ghosting of the image with the computer with the Nvidia card. Only noticeable if you look closely. The Matrox card still has a perfect image with no noticeable ghosting.
This is about the highest resolution I would recommend for most people using this KVM with an Nvidia card. The ghosting is very present at 1600x1200 and above with this card. However, the Matrox went all the way to 1920x1440 and still maintained a high quality image.
Bottom line? If you only require 1280x1024 or 1280x960 and below, you should get a high quality image on this KVM with any video card. At resolutions above 1280x1024, some video cards will give you a low quality image. Also, make sure you are using a high quality monitor cable between the KVM and the monitor that actually uses coax cable for the RGB signals.
